Maine Law’s Youth Justice Reform will host a webinar on Policy and Advocating for Change on March 23 at 4:30 pm. The event will showcase student impact through the work of the Youth Justice Clinic and the Center for Youth Policy and Law.
Established in 2006, the Youth Justice Clinic (formerly the Juvenile Justice Clinic) has been part of
significant changes in the way Maine works with and advocates for system-involved youth.
Understanding the important and powerful connection between practice and policy, in 2017 the
Center for Youth Policy and Law (formerly the Center for Juvenile Policy & Law) was established to
work with the Clinic to identify policy and practice reforms to reduce the use of inappropriate
detention and confinement and increase fairness in the justice system. Together, the Clinic and the
Center, working with students and other system stakeholders and community members, have been
instrumental in recent policy and practice reform efforts for system-involved youth, including
eliminating indiscriminate shackling of youth in courtrooms, making restitution in juvenile cases
more reasonable, improving record confidentiality for children and youth charged with juvenile
offenses, reducing the use of incarceration, and advocating for the development of a robust
continuum of community-based care for all Maine youth and young adults. This panel will talk about
the different ways the Clinic and Center work together to identify issues and implement strategies to
improve outcomes for children and youth who come in contact with the law. Current and former
students will speak to their experience both as practicing student attorneys in the Clinic and in
working on policy and practice reform with the Center.
Please join Professor Sarah Branch, Center Director Jill Ward, Student Attorneys Kelsey Cromie and
Jeanette Plourde, and recent graduates Jess Mizzi and Jon Ruterbories.
